DOCUMENTATION

Course objectives

Documentation is the original European name of a broad disciplinary area also called Information Science or Digital Humanities. It involves both a theoretical (based on logic, rhetoric and information technology) and a practical (aware and active use of the computer and the Internet) approach. The student will therefore follow a training course aimed both at acquiring mastery in accessing information on the Web and at retrieving reliable sources, and at refining critical interpretative skills (analysis of technological phenomena, reading and analyzing scientific texts by the pioneers of information technology). Particular emphasis will be given to the changes produced by digital in the cultural mechanisms of knowledge transmission, with insights into the concepts of text and hypertext, dissemination and reception, open access, Citizen Science.

Channel 1
PAOLA CASTELLUCCI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Digital Humanities Stories and history of the pioneers of Information Theory -Introduction to the disciplinary area of Documentation: from Paul Otlet and La Fontaine, to Suzanne Briet and up to current researches in the so called Information Theory. -Stories,authors, texts, and theories from Alan Turing, to Vannevar Bush, Norbert Wiener. A special focus to the 60s and 70s: Joseph Licklider, Ivan Sutherland, Douglas Engelbart, Marshall McLuhan, Ted Nelson. The portrait of the "classic" age will end with reference to Tim Berners-Lee, L. Page, S. Brin. - An introduction to Digital Humanities topics following some authors: D.J. Bolter, G. P. Landow, J. McGann.
Prerequisites
none
Books
2 books: 1) P. Castellucci, Dall’ipertesto al Web. Storia culturale dell’informatica, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2009. 2) one book, chosen in a given list Students not attending: 2) P. Castellucci, S.Mori, Suzanne Briet nostra contemporanea, Mimesis, 202.2
Teaching mode
1) Introduction to the disciplinary area. Historical, cultural, political and philosophical context. The founding fathers: Paul Otlet andHenri La Fontaine, 1895, in Europe; Positivism. Non-book materials: from microfilm to the Net. Access Policy 2) Insight: The disciplinary corpus. The disciplianry "canon". Close reading of texts by the pioneers of the Information Theory, from 1945 on: Vannevar Bush, Norbert Wiener, Paul Baran, Joseph Licklider, Ted Nelson, Tim Berners-Lee).
Frequency
Students not attending must add one more book The course ends with a more "practical" approach to the use of the Net, and logic operators Laboraory: OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue; main boolean operators).
Exam mode
Oral examination that aims to evaluate, in particular: - critical approach, and a close reading of the texts - aware and autonomous approach (methodological approach: Structuralism and Cultural Studies - good knowledge of the disciplinary vocabulary
Bibliography
Students must choose 1 book (in English or in Italian) -Norbert Wiener, Introduzione alla cibernetica. L’uso umano degli esseri umani (1950), Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1966, ripubblicato recentemente in più edizioni.  -Joseph C. R. Licklider, Libraries of the Future, Cambridge Mass., The MIT Press, 1965. Non tradotto in italiano. -Theodor Holm Nelson, Literary Machines 90.1. Il progetto Xanadu (1990), Padova, Franco Muzzio Editore, 1992. Libri di Ted Nelson in inglese reperibili in Rete o su lulu.com -Tim Berners-Lee, L’architettura del nuovo web. Dall’inventore della rete il progetto di una comunicazione democratica, interattiva e intercreativa (1999), Milano, Feltrinelli, 2001. - Johnny Rayan, Storia di Internet e il futuro digitale, Einaudi, 2011 -Katie Hafner, Matthew Lyon, La storia del futuro. Le origini di Internet (1996), Milano, Feltrinelli, 1998. -James M. Nyce, Paul Kahn, Da Memex a Hypertext. Vannevar Bush e la Macchina della Mente (1991), Padova, Franco Muzzio Editore, 1992. -George B. Dyson, L’evoluzione delle macchine. Da Darwin all’intelligenza globale, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2000. - Alessandro Baricco, The Game, Einaudi, 2018. -Jay David Bolter, Lo spazio dello scrivere. Computer, ipertesti e storia della scrittura (1991), Milano, Vita e Pensiero, 1993. Seguirà poi una seconda edizione, con sottotitolo modificato: Lo spazio dello scrivere: computer, ipertesto e la ri-mediazione della stampa, Milano, Vita e Pensiero, 2002. -George Peter Landow, Hypertext. The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology, Baltimore and London, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992; traduzione italiana: Ipertesto. Il futuro della scrittura, Bologna, Baskerville, 1993. Seconda edizione, 1998, edita da Bruno Mondadori -Jerome McGann, La letteratura dopo il World Wide Web. Il testo letterario nell’era digitale (2001), Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2002. -All'alba dell'arte digitale, (a cura di S. Bordini e F. Gallo), Mimesis, 2018 Charles Percy Snow, Le due culture (1959), Milano, Feltrinelli, 1964. edizione a cura di Alessandro Lanni, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005, con interventi di scienziati e umanisti: G. Giorello, G. O. Longo, PG. Odifreddi. Charles Percy Snow, Gli uomini nuovi (1954), Torino, Einaudi, 1965.
Lesson mode
1) Introduction to the disciplinary area. Historical, cultural, political and philosophical context. The founding fathers: Paul Otlet andHenri La Fontaine, 1895, in Europe; Positivism. Non-book materials: from microfilm to the Net. Access Policy 2) Insight: The disciplinary corpus. The disciplianry "canon". Close reading of texts by the pioneers of the Information Theory, from 1945 on: Vannevar Bush, Norbert Wiener, Paul Baran, Joseph Licklider, Ted Nelson, Tim Berners-Lee).
  • Lesson code1022509
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseModern humanities
  • CurriculumSingle curriculum
  • Year3rd year
  • Duration12 months
  • SSDM-STO/08
  • CFU6